Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Note J — Commitments and Contingencies

Leases

We lease space for substantially all of our Core U.S. and International stores, certain support facilities and the majority of our delivery vehicles under operating leases expiring at various times through 2023. Certain of the store leases contain escalation clauses for increased taxes and operating expenses. Rental expense was $235.6 million, $230.3 million and $221.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. Capital leases include certain transportation equipment.

Future minimum rental payments under operating leases with remaining lease terms in excess of one year at December 31, 2012 are as follows:

	Operating Leases
Year Ending December 31,	(In thousands)
2013	$	183,183
2014	154,569
2015	119,821
2016	78,876
2017	32,079
Thereafter	5,035
	$	573,563

Our investment in equipment under capital leases are as follows:

	December 31,
	2012		2011
	(In thousands)
Equipment under capital lease	$	—	$	2,773
Less accumulated amortization	—		(2,689		)
Equipment under capital lease, net	$	—	$	84

Litigation

From time to time, we, along with our subsidiaries, are party to various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. We reserve for litigation loss contingencies that are both probable and reasonably estimable. We regularly monitor developments related to these legal proceedings, and review the adequacy of our legal reserves on a quarterly basis. We do not expect these losses to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements if and when such losses are incurred.

Guarantee

ColorTyme Guarantees.    Our subsidiary, ColorTyme Finance, Inc., is a party to an agreement with Citibank, N.A., pursuant to which Citibank provides up to $30.0 million in aggregate financing to qualifying franchisees of ColorTyme. Under the Citibank agreement, upon an event of default by the franchisee under agreements governing this financing and upon the occurrence of certain other events, Citibank can assign the loans and the collateral securing such loans to ColorTyme Finance, with ColorTyme Finance paying or causing to be paid the outstanding debt to Citibank and then succeeding to the rights of Citibank under the debt agreements, including the right to foreclose on the collateral. Rent-A-Center and ColorTyme Finance guarantee the obligations of the franchise borrowers under the Citibank facility. An additional $20.0 million of financing is provided by Texas Capital Bank under an agreement similar to the Citibank financing, which is guaranteed by Rent-A-Center East, Inc., a subsidiary of Rent-A-Center. The maximum guarantee obligations under these agreements, excluding the effects of any amounts that could be recovered under collateralization provisions, is $50.0 million, of which $24.9 million was outstanding as of December 31, 2012.